The Philadelphia Flyers will host the New York Islanders at Wells Fargo Center tonight after last night’s embarrassing 4-1 loss to New York in their inaugural trip to UBS Arena. Carter Hart will get the nod in goal and the Flyers will look to come out of the gate with more energy and more pressure than they had last night. Their loss yesterday sunk them to eight straight losses for the second time this season, and they have only won four games since the beginning of their original ten-game losing streak on November 18th. They can only go up from here, right?
The Flyers will be missing a key piece from the lineup, as forward Kevin Hayes will be out 3-4 weeks after having fluid drained from his adductor. Interim head coach Mike Yeo said during his press conference earlier today that they knew Hayes would need the procedure done yesterday, but Hayes wanted to play anyway. That goes to show the resilience and determination he has.
Ilya Sorokin was impressive in goal last night for the Islanders, stopping 26 of 27 Flyers shots, with the one goal being a lucky bounce for Travis Konecny off a defender for his 100th NHL goal. Luckily for Philadelphia, Sorokin will have the night off, but backup and longtime NHL veteran Semyon Varlamov has still pieced together a solid season despite a poor personal record and will backstop New York on the road tonight.
PHI Record: 13-18-7, 33 pts, 7th in Metropolitan
NYI Record: 12-13-6, 30 pts, 8th in Metropolitan
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (7-12-4, .911 SV%, 2.94 GAA, 1 SO)
NYI Goalie: Semyon Varlamov (2-6-1, .917 SV%, 2.59 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #28 Claude Giroux – #89 Cam Atkinson
#23 Oskar Lindblom – #21 Scott Laughton – #11 Travis Konecny
#25 James van Riemsdyk – #48 Morgan Frost – #20 Gerry Mayhew
#71 Max Willman – #82 Connor Bunnaman – #17 Zack MacEwen
#9 Ivan Provorov – #6 Travis Sanheim
#45 Cam York – #61 Justin Braun
#3 Keith Yandle – #70 Rasmus Ristolainen
#79 Carter Hart
#35 Martin Jones
NYI Projected Lineup
#27 Anders Lee – #13 Mathew Barzal – #12 Josh Bailey
#18 Anthony Beauvillier – #29 Brock Nelson – #26 Oliver Wahlstrom
#20 Kieffer Bellows – #44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau – #11 Zach Parise
#17 Matt Martin – #53 Casey Cizikas – #15 Cal Clutterbuck
#3 Adam Pelech – #24 Scott Mayfield
#33 Zdeno Chara – #8 Noah Dobson
#2 Robin Salo – #4 Andy Greene
#40 Semyon Varlamov
#30 Ilya Sorokin
Last Game PHI: 1/17/22, 4-1 L at NY Islanders
Last Game NYI: 1/17/22, 4-1 W vs Philadelphia
News and Notes:
– The Islanders extended their active winning streak over the Flyers to six games after last night’s game. The Flyers have not defeated New York since March 18th, 2021, and they haven’t beaten the Islanders at Wells Fargo Center since January 31st, 2021, almost a full calendar year ago.
– Travis Konecny scored his 100th NHL goal in last night’s contest. According to NHL Public Relations, Konecny is the 11th player to debut with the Flyers to hit the century mark before their 25th birthday.
– Tonight’s contest was originally against the Detroit Red Wings, but the league postponed that and moved the Islanders in their place. The make-up date for Detroit will be announced at a later date.
– Carter Hart will be looking for his first win since December 14th against the New Jersey Devils. Hart has appeared in five games since and has an 0-4-1 record, .893 SV%, and 3.46 GAA in that span.
Broadcast Info: TV – ESPN+, Hulu, Radio – 97.5 The Fanatic
Injuries:
PHI – Patrick Brown (MCL), Sean Couturier (upper-body), Kevin Hayes (adductor), Nate Thompson (shoulder), Ryan Ellis (lower-body), Derick Brassard (hip)
NYI – Ryan Pulock (lower-body, COVID protocols), Kyle Palmieri (lower-body)
